Songwriter Stripped of Oscar Nomination Over Lobbying Scandal

Credit: Enthuse Entertainment

Well, this is unexpected. One of the year’s most surprising Oscar nominations has been rescinded.

Songwriter Bruce Broughton has been stripped of his nomination for the song “Alone Yet Not Alone,” from the little-seen movie of the same name, due to accusations of illegal lobbying.

The controversy stems from a series of emails that Broughton, a former governor of the Academy’s Music Branch and head of the branch’s executive committee for four years, sent to voters in the branch. His intention was to bring attention to the song since the film itself, an historical Christian drama, only got a one-week qualifying run in in Encino, with a wider release not planned until this summer.

In authoring the emails, Broughton was in violation of the AMPAS campaign regulations prohibiting correspondences that “extol[s] the merits of a film, an achievement or an individual.” The rules also state, “Contacting Academy members by telephone to promote a film or achievement is expressly forbidden.”

However, Broughton defended his actions in an interview, stating, “I wrote a letter to people that I personally knew and thought were a member of the branch to ask to them to look for the song, to be aware that there’s a song there. I didn’t ask anyone to vote for it, I just didn’t want the song to be bypassed … I had a definite eye on the Academy rules [and] was respectful of the conditions.”

Unfortunately, the Academy felt otherwise.

“No matter how well-intentioned the communication, using one’s position as a former governor and current executive committee member to personally promote one’s own Oscar submission creates the appearance of an unfair advantage,” Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said in a statement.

“Alone Yet Not Alone,” with music by Broughton and lyrics by Dennis Spiegel, has consequently lost its nomination altogether. A replacement nominee will not be named, meaning the field in the Best Original Song category has been shortened to four.

Via: TheWrap